Alceste loves Célimène, a flirtatious woman from Parisian high society. He loathes this world for its hypocritical etiquette but, shaken by a public trial he is called to by this social circle, he must visit Célimène to ask for her help...

Le Misanthrope looks at a society freed from the authority of family and religion, where people show their true nature as lust and desire take over. The main character's questionable morals, giving up on high society etiquette and demands, force his peers to shed light on their own contradictions and shortcomings.